MAP News Issue 442, May 12, 2018
The MAP News | |
FEATURE WI & MAP's CBEMR Training in the Saloum Delta  SENEGAL – Wetlands International and Mangrove Action Project recently completed a two week Community Based Ecological Mangrove Restoration (CBEMR) field summit in Saloum Delta, Senegal. Week one was a mix of training and field trips. Topics included the reasons for planting failures, mangrove benefits focusing more on the obscure features such as water cleaning, relevant mangrove biology and ecology, species zoning, measuring spot heights, the importance of hydrology and how CBEMR uses all of these factors to facilitate natural regeneration. With removal of mangrove stressors and improvements of hydrology and topography a bio-diverse ecosystem can be re-established. The second phase of three days focused on more practical issues. For example, the reduction of demand for mangrove wood. At the end members were joined by Ibrahima Thiam, Regional Director for Wetlands International Africa who present certificates for participants and many thanks from the MAP trainers for the host NGO's help and logistics efforts. READ MORE AFRICA Coastal forest conservation in Kenya adds up  KENYA – Enlist the help of hundreds of community volunteers, hire one project coordinator and two security guards, then sell carbon credits. The result: 117 hectares of protected mangrove forest on the south coast of Kenya, which provides a natural barrier against flooding from the Indian Ocean, creates both a nursery habitat for fish and water purification, and generates annual income for two villages to make vital improvements to infrastructure and social programs. Mangroves are among the most threatened of all ecosystems, with global rates of destruction exceeding those of terrestrial tropical forests They are also among the most efficient of all-natural carbon sinks and provide a wide range of other ecosystem benefits. But mangroves have been declining in quality and area throughout Kenya; their total extent decreased by 0.7 percent per year between 1985 and 2000. READ MORE ASIA Baros mangrove conservation forest  INDONESIA – Since 2001, the youth of Baros in Bantul Regency in Yogyakarta, Indonesia have spearheaded the planting of mangroves to help protect their community from soil erosion, strong sea winds, and garbage. VIEW VIDEO Indonesia: the resistance of the sacred in Bali to the “green revolution” and the tourism industry  INDONESIA – Of the more than 17 thousand islands that make up what is now known as Indonesia, Bali is a world tourism hotspot. The millions of people who visit each year come in search of its beaches, rice fields considered a world heritage site by UNESCO, and its famous Hindu temples. And it’s no coincidence Bali is referred to as the Island of the Gods: one of its main attractions is the set of sacred practices that form part of daily life. However, what many don’t hear about is the impact of tourism on the life of local communities. The age-old irrigation system of subaks is an expression of community relations in Bali. Legally recognized as a simple mechanism of irrigation, subaks are an ancient system of beliefs that guide the way people relate to each other and other spheres of life. Consequently, subaks are not only irrigation channels that provide water to flooded rice fields or for the cultivation of fruit and other foodstuffs. They also connect the elements that make water the religion of Bali: time, land, the air, the forests, the crops, dances, offerings, and temples. Subaks are part of the life experience of the communities and are managed by federations that are made up of leaders whose role is to observe them from an integrated perspective. READ MORE AMERICAS ‘Wildlife Insights’ – real-time data for conservation decision-making  USA – Wildlife Insights is a global platform that will bring together near real-time data on wildlife populations to create the most comprehensive wildlife monitoring platform on the planet. Wildlife Insights will provide data and tools that can be used to rapidly advance conservation science, decision making, and action. Conservation International, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, the Smithsonian Institution, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and Google have partnered to build the platform, with support from the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation. Wildlife insights & IUCN collaboration. Wildlife Insights partners and IUCN are exploring a new collaboration that will link the Wildlife Insights platform to the IUCN Green List Standard for Protected and Conserved Areas. This collaboration marks a major step forward in evidence-based conservation. By providing an open-access platform for global wildlife data, we believe protected areas will be able to improve their effectiveness, ultimately resulting in stable/recovering wildlife populations and in improved ecosystem benefits and healthier protected areas. READ MORE OCEANA Go slow with NZ mangrove clearances, says expert  NEW ZEALAND – Mangroves get a bad rap and even Dr Erik Horstman admits he dislikes them sometimes. The researcher from the University of Waikato's Coastal Marine Group says mangroves play important roles in North Island estuaries and New Zealand should be conservative about clearing mangroves because they will almost certainly help fight climate change, sea-level rise and coastal inundation. Moreover, recent research shows clearing mangroves does not return the area to its former condition quickly. "In contrast to the global trend of mangrove decline, New Zealand mangroves are rapidly expanding," Horstman and colleagues wrote in the New Zealand chapter of a new global book on the species called Threats to Mangrove Forests: Hazards, Vulnerability, and Management. READ MORE GLOBAL World Migratory Bird Day 2018 Unified Campaign Triggers Events for Birds Around the World  GERMANY – “Unifying Our Voices for Bird Conservation” is the theme of World Migratory Bird Day 2018, which will be celebrated in over 60 countries around the world on 12 May 2018. World Migratory Bird Day is an annual, UN-backed global awareness-raising and environmental education campaign focused on migratory birds and the need for international cooperation to conserve them. “Migratory birds connect people, ecosystems and nations. They are symbols of peace and of an interconnected planet. Their epic journeys inspire people of all ages, across the globe. World Migratory Bird Day is an opportunity to celebrate the great natural wonder of bird migration – but also a reminder that those patterns, and ecosystems worldwide, are threatened by climate change. I urge Governments and people everywhere to take concerted conservation action that will help to ensure the birds’ survival — and our own”, said United Nations Secretary General António Guterres in a statement to mark World Migratory Bird Day. READ MORE Mapping ecosystems through multifunctionality lens broadens options  GERMANY — In an era of increasing competition for resources, with pressing needs both to nourish human populations and support ecosystems and biodiversity, the search for holistic solutions that minimize conflicts over land use is a hot topic for ecology and landscape management. Traditionally, ecology has focused on studying individual functions within ecosystems and consideration of how they relate to their drivers. But ecosystem functioning is actually “inherently multidimensional,” say the authors of a new study published in Nature, Ecology and Evolution. In recognition, the term “multifunctionality” has grown in popularity in recent years. It is usually referred to broadly as the ability of an ecosystem to deliver a number of different functions or services simultaneously As lead author Peter Manning explains, if we can take better measures of the multitude of interlocking things that ecosystems are providing, it can help us to make much more careful decisions about the ways we manage and interact with them. READ MORE LAST WORD In Memoriam: Celebrating Prof. Sam Hettiarachchi, a true Eco-DRR Champion
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